(gentle upbeat music) >>A lot of our common nurseries traditionally had traditional landscape plants, most of which are not native to here.

[Peggy] No, most of 'em are from Asia.

>>Right, and so that's what most of us have in our yard.

And so we are now understanding that what we need to have in our yards are more of the native plants because of all this other life that they bring to our garden and provide.

>>In a native space, the soil is different.

So in our spaces we have disturbed soils and certain plants grow in disturbed soils, and certain plants will not grow in those soils.

So learning about your local soils and what grows around you is really helpful.

>>Production funding for "Virginia Home Grown" is made possible by the Mary Roper Davis and Robert Poore Roper Memorial Fund.

And by, (birds chirping) (gentle upbeat music) Welcome to Virginia Home Grown!

Today we are celebrating the benefits of native plants and talking with landscape designers to learn their approaches to adding more natives to our yards and gardens.

First, Shana Williams met habitat designer Steph of Green Steeze in Culpeper County.

To see a native installation packed full of plants that provide food and shelter for local wildlife throughout the year.

Let's take a look.

>>This is black chokeberry and so it has a white flower in the spring.

In the fall, you see we have lots of berries that the birds really like, especially the migrating birds.

And as you can see, the bees are going crazy over them.

There's some mountain mint here.

The pollinators go crazy over that one.

>>I have plenty of that in my garden.

>>Oh yeah, this is a pollinator favorite, and it likes to spread itself about.

>>What are some of these plants right here that are going to seed?

>>Yeah, it looks like some rudbeckias, and I think they've actually planted themselves versus us planted them.

And that happens too in the meadow.

>>So homeowners have to be conscious of the fact that a lot of things that they may initially plant or have been planted, our pollinators are gonna bring in basically and plant some things themselves.

>>Yeah, the seeds come in on birds and stuff, but the same thing can be said for invasive plants, so we have to be conscious of that too.

>>We have some beautiful plants here with the beautiful berries!

>>We have winterberry back there.

If you notice there's three, but only two of them have berries.

Those are the females and the male doesn't have berries.

His job is to pollinate.

>>Beautiful.

They keep their berries all year round?

>>So they do not have berries all year round.

They have kind of an inconspicuous flower in the spring, but in the fall, then they have these beautiful berries and they retain them during the winter time, so that's why they're called winterberry.

And so all of these leaves actually drop down, they're deciduous, and then the berries are left and it's just really gorgeous in the winter.

So kind of imagine this in the winter with snow and nothing but these red berries.

It's a lot of fun.

>>Gorgeous.

>>Yeah, and then we have some goldenrod over here.

>>They seem to really have spread out and taken over!

>>And that's what goldenrod does, so you have to kind of plan for that.

And sometimes you might need to pack up some and give 'em to some friends.

(both laughing) >>That's always good.

>>And so we have milkweed.

The milkweed has already gone to seed, but really important for the monarch butterflies.

There's zizia down there.

That's actually one of my favorite native plants, zizia aurea, because it just can be put in many different places and- >>And I love that we also include some high plants, but some low things that help smother out some of the weeds as well.

>>Yeah, it does help, but definitely weeding is really important in the garden.

Even when you have these really big plants and the smaller plants, it can still be infiltrated by lots of weeds.

>>Wow, look at these!

We have these beautiful asters and they're covered with bees right now.

>>Yeah, they are covered with bees.

This is great for late season pollinators.

>>I saw the witch-hazel over there.

Tell me more about that.

Why did you decide to put that in?

>>So witch-hazels are really great because they can take full sun as well as part sun and they don't get too big, so they're helpful in landscaping because often we're not allowed to put in a big tree.

So when you have an HOA, sometimes your HOA will kind of determine what heights are appropriate and whether or not you can plant a tree.

So that's one you can kind of slide under the radar because it's not gonna get as big.

So we have baptisia over here.

So this is the blue false indigo.

And there's some, like, wild petunia.

There's some columbine that's growing in there, some bee balm, iron weed in the back, penstemon, amsonia.

And this is a Chinese magnolia.

Originally the homeowner wanted to keep this and that's how this whole garden came about, because this one was doing terribly.

So we gave it a community, pruned it up, and now, you know, all the blooms.

This is next year's blooms.

They're popping up and it's doing just fine.

>>As a conservationist, what are you trying to provide for the homeowner, as well as for the wildlife, when you create these habitats?

>>Yeah, so we're really kind of marrying together, y'know, what the homeowners want and need and what the habitat needs.

So we're creating wild spaces in areas that really didn't exist.

If we look around this neighborhood here that we're in, nobody else has a wild garden.

It's mostly Asian plants, European plants, grasses, which are not really providing for habitat.

So the homeowner gets, y'know, the pleasure of kind of coming out and seeing all of these things and watching them in each season as they change and watching the pollinators and the birds interact with it.

And it really brings them a sense of peace and understanding and kind of a feeling of togetherness.

>>[And we're creating this harmonious space, not just for the wildlife, but as well for us to enjoy.

>>Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.

>>When they come out here, what various ecosystems would they explore in their garden?

>>Well, that's the thing.

In residential properties, it's more of a microclimate.

You're gonna have some parts of your property that are one way, certain parts of your property that are another way, and so it's really important to learn what's going on around you within the local plant communities.

So in the local plant communities, there's gonna be specific plants that are doing really well in that area and you kind of mimic what you're seeing.

And if you have those conditions, the soils are the same, y'know, the moisture's the same, different things like that, then you can mimic that within your own garden.

>>So the homeowner really has to do some research.

They just can't go to the big box store and just purchase some plants and just plop 'em into the ground.

>>And that's kind of the difference why you don't see a lot of these plants in big box stores.

They don't do well in cultivation sometimes.

And some of them are really soil-specific, pH-specific.

So it really depends on the plant.

So planting for your community is important, so learning about your local soils and what's expected in your local soils and what grows around you is really helpful.

>>So say, for instance, I want to plant some different varieties in my garden.

What would you suggest some of those plants?

Or is it really more important to see what's best for my community and my soil?

>>I think that's more important, and because also you're contributing to the seed bank locally.

So sometimes if you, y'know, have hybrids of something that is more commonly found in your area, then you might be changing that plant by adding that genetics to the area.

>>Okay, so what advice would you give a new homeowner who wants to start transitioning their space and incorporating more native plants?

>>First figure out how much time you have to contribute to this garden, 'cause if you don't have a lot of time, then you want to go for something that's really easy to take care of.

So starting small rather than big is usually better, especially if you haven't had the experience of working with the plants before and you're not sure how much time you will need to kind of devote to it.

>>Start small, perhaps even map it out, think about what we want to actually plant?

>>Yeah, absolutely.

>>Not just rush into it?

>>Yeah, I often say, y'know, your foundation plantings, put those in pen and then pencil in the stuff you want to kind of play with and learn about.

>>Sounds great, Steph.

I know one thing, I'm definitely gonna pay more attention to the native species list, and I suggest that our homeowners do the same thing because often in these box stores, you find tons of native plants, but you also find even more invasive plants, so it's also very important to be mindful of what's out there.

>>Absolutely, all areas typically have a native plant grower that specializes in that local ecotype, so getting to know them and getting their plants is really important.

You're supporting the local community by doing that, but also preserving some of those genetics that are from this area, rather than mixing them from areas that are all over.

Those plants may not be adapted to this area.

>>Steph, thank you for sharing this beautiful oasis that you guys created.

It has been a pleasure learning about the native plants with you.

>>Thank you.

I really appreciate you learning with me.

Adding native plants to the garden is a great first step towards sustainability.

And as Steph shared, shopping local to source your plants supports our community both naturally and economically.

Visit the resources section on our website for help getting started with identifying Virginia native plants and adding them to your garden.

Next, Dr. Robyn Puffenbarger shares tips for including an often overlooked type of plant to your native plant landscape.

Vines.

(light cheerful music) >>Today we're in Waynesboro at the Moon Garden.

Our hosts built a beautiful native garden around their property, and they've emphasized not only native plants, but native vines, and this is an oftentimes left out aspect of the native plants you could add in.

They have a beautiful pergola that I'm standing under, with the gorgeous vines draping down.

Right next to me is the native honeysuckle.

It has nice green leaves, gorgeous red tubular flowers.

They start blooming in early spring, go all through summer.

They haven't finished even now, in late fall.

They are beginning to set their cute little red berries that are almost waxy red in color.

These flowers will bring your hummingbirds, so our ruby-throated hummingbird will visit them all summer long, and many birds find the berries very attractive as food in late fall and early winter.

Another vine here on the pergola is Virginia Creeper.

This is an excellent choice of vines.

It goes up and grows very nicely, with bright green leaves all summer, then excellent fall foliage, a very, very gorgeous red, that also shows these beautiful deep purple, almost black berries.

The berries are very attractive to birds, and they will eat them and spread the seeds, so you may find Virginia Creeper coming all on its own.

You can use it on a pergola growing up, like a vine, or you can keep it down on the ground as a ground cover.

It makes an excellent ground cover under trees as well.

The last one that they have here on the pergola is this Passion Vine.

This is a gorgeous Virginia native with a purple flower in summer, that looks tropical.

You wouldn't expect it for a native plant in Virginia.

It is a fairly aggressive grower.

In my garden, I'm planning to put it in a place where I can mow around it so it won't escape and go into other places.

In this garden, it's been trained up and over a hoop where you walk into the garden, giving a very dramatic appearance.

Wonderful, wonderful vine to have in your garden.

And the last one they have are Muscadine Grapes.

These are excellent tasting grapes, they come in a beautiful purple and a copper color, and they're just finishing up their fruiting season now.

So a lovely, lovely tasting grape to add to your garden.

This garden also has lots of other natives, including dogwood trees, native cone flowers, red chokecherry, and a number of other plants that are going to be very attractive as they bloom all season for the homeowners to enjoy, providing native cover and habitat for other wildlife and the pollinators.

It's just a wonderful space to be in.

Hope this gives you some ideas for your own native garden back home, and happy gardening.

Vines add a vertical interest, even in small gardens.

It's wise to do a bit of research before buying because keeping a 20 foot vine confined to a ten foot structure is a near impossible task.

And now I travelled to Rappahannock County to meet Janet Davis of Hill House Native Nursery at a garden she designed to discuss how native plants can meet homeowner needs and wildlife needs while providing a diversity of size, shape, color, bloom, time and more.

Let's get going.

>>Natives in the past have been thought of as just like the messy floppy.

You say goldenrod and people go, "Oh!"

You know, like- >>Yes.

>>"Oh, I see that in the field.

I don't want it in my garden."

Not knowing that there's dozens of species of goldenrod that are very garden worthy and very tidy.

>>Yes.

>>And very beautiful.

So, that's what we sort of walked into this saying, "How can we create some structure?

How can we use appropriate all native shrubs?

How can we pair that with some good layering and some perennials?"

And for us, I use a lot of sedges.

>>Yes.

>>Which are grass-like, evergreen grass-like plants.

And so what we said is, "We're gonna use a lot of grasses and sedges here that sort of give you that layer under and around your shrubs in addition to having a lot of blooming."

So, we did a lot more blooming in the back of the house, which is where their back porches and their pool- >>And that's where they hang out.

>>And that's where they hang out.

>>So, they wanna have the flowers around them.

>>We had a little bit of flower here in the front to sort of welcome people with a little bit of color, but nothing too, you know, very simple palette, nothing too wild, and a lot of really nice backdrop of everything here.

>>Mm-hmm.

Yes.

>>And so, that's where we went and just leapt off and did it all.

And everything that we have here is under two years old at this point.

>>So, you were telling me earlier that it's about the layers and it's about the spacing.

You're putting the plants so that they're touching- >>Right.

>>So, that your maintenance is reduced so that they're shading the ground and you're not needing to mulch all the time.

But you're also, rather than thinking of color combinations, you're thinking of the layers of what you're applying.

So, you're putting in the tree, you're putting in the shrubs, but then what are the other layers, you know?

>>Right.

So, when I talk to clients or when I do design, I always say, "We want diversity in the garden."

That's sort of just, oh, that just means a lot of things to a lot of people.

>>Yes.

>>But we approach that and say, "There's three kinds of diversity that I'm really trying to bring into a garden."

And I encourage a homeowner, they can do this at home.

So, you wanna think about altitude or height diversity.

You might have a tree.

Well, you can then bring some shrubs down to that.

And then you step that altitude down a little more.

Maybe some ground cover or some sedges or grasses or some low growing perennials.

Or you create a garden off that and you've got something bigger.

Then you have what we think of as temporal or time diversity.

How can I have something blooming or happening at different times of the year?

So, I might think about what's gonna be my spring interest and what can give me some summer interest and what's gonna have berries- >>In the winter.

>>Or something else that gives us winter interest.

>>Yes.

>>So, you've got time diversity.

And then we think about species diversity, which is what we all think of.

Just lots of different things.

>>Yep.

>>Because there's lots of different insects, bees, wasps, butterflies.

But they're all looking for different kinds of flowers oftentimes.

There are short tongue bees, long tongue bees.

Of course, butterflies have a long proboscis that they're going to nectar on.

So, you need different types of flowers.

So that's part of- >>Different shapes, different colors, different sizes.

>>Right.

>>For a traditional landscape, how would you recommend a homeowner to start infusing native plants into that landscape?

>>Right, because it's a lot easier when you had a clean palette.

>>Yes, exactly.

(chuckles) >>You just walk in and do this.

So, a lot of times when I'm helping people or I'm lecturing or talking to people about that, I'll say, "Well, look at what you have."

And the first thing is you don't wanna do any harm.

So, if you have something that shouldn't be there, it's an invasive, and you've talked about that a lot.

>>Yeah.

>>Maybe those are the things you wanna take out or something that's overgrown.

>>Yes.

>>Something that's been there a long time and you're like- >>Too big.

>>Yeah.

I've prune that all the time.

I'm like, well, maybe that's the thing we wanna immediately just take off.

So, can you replace, that's a place to start.

And then say what native would be great to work in the same space.

Whether it's shades, sun, is it wet, is it dry?

>>Yes.

>>How big do I need that to be?

What can I pair with it that's gonna look good?

Maybe at the front door or wherever you are.

And the other thing I often encourage people to do is connect the dots.

I was at a client yesterday, they had a tree and then a little bit of, you know, shrub with some stuff and then another one and another one.

And I said, "You wanna reduce that lawn and have natives.

You could just connect that into one nice long bed.

And they just went, eureka.

You know?

>>Yeah.

>>And that's, anybody can do that.

>>And you said a key word there, shrubs.

You know, shrubs take up a lot of space.

>>Right.

>>They take up a lot of ground.

>>Right.

>>And most of them do grow up, but the ones that grow out will reduce the maintenance.

'cause people go, >>Absolutely.

>>"Oh my gosh, the maintenance, I don't have time to weed."

>>Absolutely.

>>And it's back to choosing the plants that will cover the ground.

>>Right.

Right.

>>So, that you don't have to weed.

>>So, there's some things like low grow sumac, which is Rhus aromatica.

>>Yes.

>>It's very prostrate, very growing.

>>Yes.

>>So, you can sort of use that as we use that as a ground cover.

>>St.

John's wort, St. John's are very popular one.

>>Yes.

Yes.

>>It gives you some flowers.

Very pretty.

>>And we use sedges a lot of, you know, they're in the grass family, if you will.

And they're mostly evergreen and small, very fine textured.

We've got some over here underneath our inkberry.

>>Yep.

>>Which is a native shrub that we use instead of boxwood.

>>Yes.

>>It sort of gives you that little bit of formal look.

It gives you an evergreen.

And we've surround it.

>>It's very tight and tidy.

>>Tidy.

And so, you can use those very effectively in places you need to be very structured.

Even if you had a townhouse garden.

>>Yeah.

So, there's plants you can use to even substitute these non-native plants.

>>Right, so that's another one.

>>It'll give you the exact same look that you're seeking.

>>Exactly.

>>And do not have the disease or insect pressure problems.

>>Right.

Right.

And what they are bringing into your garden are insects that you wanna see.

>>Yes.

>>Like butterflies, for example.

Or they are host plants for a lot of really interesting bees or wasps.

And before people get afraid of that, almost all of our native bees and wasps, which are not honeybees, those are European, those are mostly solitary.

They're not protecting a brood.

They're not gonna sting you.

In fact, my daughter who's now 19 studying ecology, when she grew up she was like the bee charmer, you know, petting things.

Because if they're happy, they don't really care that you're there.

>>They're so docile.

Yes.

>>Right.

>>Yes.

>>So, they're gonna come to you.

So, that's all things that when you bring in the natives, you get to enjoy that garden in a whole different way.

>>You know, and people need to realize that just because a plant has a few holes in it, it's okay.

>>Yeah.

That plant's a host plant.

>>Yes.

>>The whole point of having natives is that we're bringing insects in and giving 'em a place to live, something to eat.

>>Yes.

>>Place over winter, reproduce, whatever it is.

So, when you look at it up close, yeah, you might see a leaf that's got holes in it.

'cause you're walked up almost with a magnifying glass and you're looking at it.

But if you look at it from here, we're 10, 15 feet away, it's beautiful and it's full of berries.

>>Exactly.

>>You don't see any of that.

>>That viburnum is just as pretty as it could be.

>>I know.

I love that.

Viburnum nudum, brandywine.

>>It's a lovely plant.

>>Beautiful one.

Yeah.

>>Speaking of beautiful plants though, name some of your favorite combinations that you like to put in a garden.

>>Well, one of my favorites is right behind us.

And I have to say it's sort of the coup de grace here 'cause this is their entryway.

And the homeowner, she loves it.

She sends me pictures year round of this practically.

>>Oh.

>>And so, we have red chokeberry, which is Aronia arbutifolia.

It's the straight species.

It's not one of the cultivars.

And underneath it is the pink muhly grass, Muhlenbergia capillaris.

Again, a straight species.

So, I really like to take shrubs.

I like to take thread-leaf sedges or thread-leaf things like Amsonia, blue star.

>>I love Amsonia, blue star.

Yes.

>>Or Threadleaf Coreopsis, tickseed.

Those things are very fine and that sets off the broadleaf- >>Soften, they soften things.

>>They soften things.

You could soften a corner, you can soften a stone wall.

You can soften the big texture of a broadleaf plant that way.

And whether that's a perennial or a shrub with broad leaves, you can then soften that with these other things >>Because the flowers come and go.

>>Right.

>>But the structure of the plant is there all the time.

>>Right.

And the other interesting I thing about flowers coming and going, I wanna say this.

So, we tell everybody how important it is to leave the seed heads.

>>Yes.

>>Those are landing pads for even small birds that over winter, for dragonflies or butterflies later in the year.

Let those stand until you get well into spring.

And then when you cut them off, try to leave somewhere between eight and 16 inches.

Because a lot of those stalks are hollow.

>>Yeah.

>>And a lot of our over wintering insects are pupa or they're some other stage, not the adult.

And they've laid that egg or that pupa has formed in that hollow stem.

And if we cut that off at the ground and run it over here to our compost pile, we've just destroyed next year's insects- >>Yes.

>>That we need.

Those are part of our pollinators.

>>Yes, so we have to understand it's ecosystems.

It's not- >>Right.

>>You know, an ecosystems cross state lines.

(laughs) >>Yes.

Right.

'cause we have a lot of folks becoming very concerned about whether that native is a Virginia native.

And I honor that people define native differently, but we like to remember that insects, birds, all these other creatures that we're building our gardens for, if you will, are not really obeying necessarily those same lines.

So I try to encourage people to think about it in that sort of broader term and think about eco regions.

We like to really broaden that out.

>>I like to say, add more life to our garden.

>>Yes.

And you will.

>>You will.

>>This is how you do it.

For sure.

>>Yes, for sure.

Well, Janet, thank you so much.

I love your enthusiasm.

>>Thank you.

>>And your knowledge.

And I thank you for finding the time to share it with us.

>>Absolutely.

Thanks for inviting me.

What great plant combination, structure and color.

Let's stop thinking of native plants as only weedy and wild because they can be used in the typically more structured landscape too.

And now Serome Hamlin has tips to share on how you can start small and add native plants to your existing beds.

(gentle upbeat music) >>It has been a very exciting time to be a gardener.

A lot of people are finally starting to realize the joys and benefits of gardening, and along with that, the joys and benefits of native plants.

So in this bed, I'm going to be adding in some native plants that I have picked up.

Later on, I'm going to be planting some more Amsonia in this bed, which is a nice native plant.

Blue blooms early in the season, and beautiful fall color and also Green and Gold, one of my favorite evergreen ground covers makes a nice little mass.

And the pollinators love the nectar from the blooms.

So those are going to be going in a little later.

So in this garden, it's a mix of native and non-natives now, and I have already added some natives, such as this Thuja here and this Little Bluestem.

Now, this is a cultivar Little Bluestem that has variegated leaves called Chameleon.

So in between these, I'm going to plant in a Eupatorium 'Cori.'

I want a nice mass of this Eupatorium 'cause it has this nice light blue bloom and it blooms later in the season.

So the late season pollinators can really take advantage of this.

Now, I have really, really compacted soil here from years of having dogs.

So I will have to add some soil conditioner.

Now, the soil conditioner is really finally grated mulch.

So what happens is as it's in the soil and it breaks down, it takes up the space of the compacted soil or your clay soil and makes it a lot better.

So we're gonna get this guy out of the pot.

Look at these nice roots.

Now, always remember, as you're planting, score the roots.

You don't want them to continue to grow in the pattern that they are in, in the container.

Give those roots a chance to start spreading out into the soil.

Then we'll get them in here, tuck it in nicely, and voila, we have a new plant to take over this section.

Then we have a nice little mass here, and I think this is going to really work out great.

Nice fall color.

And it fits the color scheme that I'm going for.

There's always going to be a native version of a plant that you can use to fit whatever scheme you're going for.

It might take a little research, but we can do it.

We all can go out and get our hands dirty and start adding some native plants to our landscapes, even our existing landscapes.

Just go out and just add some in and you will reap the benefits and so will the ecosystem.

Learning about new plants and also realizing our gardens and landscapes play a larger role than just pretty places to enjoy challenges what we are familiar with.

Still we hope you have been inspired by the variety and different growth habits of the native plants we have seen today, and that you consider adding some of these to your landscape.

Taking steps toward restoring our native plant communities makes our landscapes more adaptable and sustainable.

See you soon.

And until then, remember gardening is for everyone and we are all growing and learning together!

>>Production funding for Virginia Home Grown is made possible by the Mary Roper Davis & Robert Poore Roper Memorial Fund.

And by.

(birds chirping) (mellow music) (mellow music continues) (mellow music continues) (mellow music continues) (pensive music)